Bill Thomson, CEO of Speedware Corp may not sound the most upbeat of individuals, but he says he’s convinced his company will hit profitability by the end of the year. On Friday, the Canadian sales automation software vendor reported its third consecutive loss-making quarter, bringing total losses for the nine month period to $5.5m. But Thomson points out the figure hides a one- time restructuring charge of $2.94m so in actual fact, he says the company hasn’t done as badly as the same time last year when accumulated losses amounted to $2.8m. The special charge, attributable to third quarter losses, includes a one-time loss following the discontinuation of Speedware’s internet commerce division three weeks ago and severance payments to a number of employees. Thomson said the company was forced to let go of a few number of very senior people in a bid to keep costs down. And he doesn’t jest. The sweeping round of job losses saw Speedware rid itself of between 10 and 15 key figures including its chairman, vice chairman, president and a number of vice presidents. Coupled with the lay-offs, the company has also changed its sales ethic, from focusing on IT managers to marketing directly at the users themselves (CI No 3,463).
